New Story. It's something that I've wanted to write for awhile and today I finally got some inspiration! The plot of this is that Elena is kidnapped by an ancient vampire and is shown memories of Damon's past-some good and some bad. The ultimate goal is for her to understand him more-meaning she'll realize what has happened to this poor vampire to shape him to who he is today.

I've always wanted Vampire Diaries to do a Damon flashback episode focusing all on Damon's past. I don't think they'll do one like that, but still one can dream.

Enjoy and review!

Warnings: strong angst, some language, some romance later on.

The Memories of Damon

Chapter 1-The Book

Elena's head ached as she opened her eyes. Her body could barely move by itself. The last time she had felt this bad was when Rose slapped her across the face.

Looking around, she guessed she was in some dark apartment complex from the looks of her surroundings.

'Strange…' she thought to herself. The last thing she remembered was sitting in Stefan's bedroom during her 18th birthday party and then a hand clapping over her mouth. After that she apparently blacked out.

She missed Stefan terribly, especially now that he was back on human blood again and Klaus's little minion. She didn't feel like celebrating but Caroline had insisted on throwing her a party. Basically Elena had no choice but to attend.

"I'm sorry I had to knock you out like that. I couldn't very well have you screaming your head off now, could I?" a voice spoke causing Elena to jump up in fright.

Turning around, she saw a pretty girl with blonde curly hair and blue eyes staring back at her. She was dressed modernly wearing dark blue jeans, black boots, a white low-cut t-shirt and a kaki jacket.

"Who…who are you?" Elena gasped, staring at the strange girl in front of her. The girl smiled at her in a friendly way.

"My name is Ashley. I am a 600-year-old vampire. I mean you no harm, I assure you."

Elena was inclined not to believe her at first but she was right. If this strange woman hadn't hurt her by now then she wasn't going to any time soon.

"Ok, so why am I here? Why did you kidnap me? My friends will be looking for me shortly," Elena was trying to reason with this girl. Damon would surely realize she was missing soon and go to hell and back to find her.

"I have your phone. I texted him telling him you wanted to be alone for awhile."

"You WHAT?" screeched Elena in disbelief. "What is it you want from me? If you're going to kill me then do it quickly-"

"I am not here to hurt you. I am here to enlighten you," Ashley smiled at her warmly.

Puzzled, Elena looked around the dark apartment. It didn't have a lot of space but there was a bed along with a refrigerator and a couch.

"What are your feelings regarding Damon Salvatore?" Ashley's question broke Elena's inquiry of the underground house.

"That's what you want to ask me? You kidnap me then ask me that question? I don't even know you, why do you want me here?" Elena was getting angrier by the second.

Before she could continue, Ashley held up what looked like a very old book. She put it on the counter and slid it down to Elena's side.

"What the hell is that?" Elena asked, looking at ancient book in front of her. On the top cover in bold letters was the word Salvatore.

Ashley was silent for a moment. "I know that you have a love/hate relationship with Damon right now. I know that he's done some horrible things to you like kill Jeremy right in front of you and forcing his blood down your throat.

Elena let out a gasp. How did this girl know all of this?

"I've been around a long time Elena. It's amazing how I get my information. But enough about that. There are some things in here that might make a small difference in the way you feel about Mr. Damon Joseph Salvatore."

Shock took over Elena's body. This was totally not what she was expecting.

"What does that even mean? This book contains-"

"Memories from Damon's past," Ashley spoke gently. An aura of sorrow was around the ancient vampire now. "Both good and bad."

"And why do you want me to look at these?" Elena's curiosity grew more by every passing minute.

"When you see Damon's past maybe you will understand him more. I'm not saying you'll forgive him for everything he's done to you and your family; but I am saying you may have a change of heart once you see these," Ashley was staring intently at Elena right now, silently asking what her answer was.

Elena walked over to the bed and sat down upon it. This was a lot to absorb. In all the months she had known Damon, he had never talked about his past except to tell her how Stefan made him become a vampire; and that was one of the reasons he hated Stefan. But other than that…nothing. She knew more than anybody that Damon would never tell her about any of the things the book would show her.

Yet another part of Elena's conscience was afraid to find out. Ashley had warned her that some of the memories wouldn't be very pretty to watch. That alone was scary. She didn't know if she could even face Damon after she watched all of these.

"And…you…can show me all of these memories? You have the power to do that?"

"Yes," was Ashley's response. "If you can handle the responsibility of looking at these with an open mind, that is."

Elena stared at the wall in front of her. Then she turned back to Ashley. Standing up and walking towards the book, she stared down at the object that would tell her everything she wanted to know, and didn't want to know, about Damon Salvatore.

"Okay…what's the first memory?"

Ashley smiled at her. Elena felt dizzy for a second then she felt like she was flying…

Well, what do you think? Review! The more reviews I get, the sooner I'll update : ) Also, if you have ideas for some possible Damon memories just PM me.